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bacasper

Joined: 26 Mar 2007
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Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 8:43 pm Post subject: |
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| On the other hand wrote: |
Ah, I see. Thanks.
But still. If I called up a newspaper and said "I'm calling to warn you that a bomb will go off at 7:00 PM at Whatever Building In Wherevertown", I would think that that would incur some legal penalties toward me. |
What if you'd overheard the plot and were calling to warn potential victims to get away to safety? Would you be guilty of a crime then? The point is that each case ought to be evaluated indivdually instead of having a "one size fits all" response. |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Established in 1994
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Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 11:55 pm Post subject: |
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| Would you be guilty of a crime then? |
Wouldn't that depend on how you knew about the threat?
This doesn't seem like at all like a 'one size fits all' situation.
I don't know anything about Australian law, but shouting 'Fire!' in a theater in the US has been considered a crime for about a century. Check out Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. Smart man. |
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adeline
Joined: 19 Nov 2007
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Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 4:50 pm Post subject: |
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| even if the threat didn't cause an real panic, and i doubt it really did, it is still a crime. its a crime because it costs money in the same way that calling 911 when there is no emergency. it costs a lot of money for the police to track down someone who makes a threat, and they can't ignore it just because it is on the internet. as for the "why would anyone warn?" question, it is part of the pathology. People who engage in mass murder frequently send out messages, or leave them behind. |
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